


Perfect summer day

by Zoya113



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: F/M, Fluff, paul is ripped & u can’t tell me otherwise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:01:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22049047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoya113/pseuds/Zoya113
Summary: Paul works out just so he’s strong enough to carry Emma when her leg starts to hurt
Relationships: Emma Perkins - Relationship, Paul Matthews - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 49





	Perfect summer day

“Oh hey Paul,” Emma glanced up from the table she was wiping down. “I’m just about to finish closing, did you want a coffee before I wipe down the machines?” 

Paul shook his head, a chaste little smile on his face and his hands in his pockets. “I thought the weather was great today so I thought I’d come and walk you home!” 

Emma gave him a questioning smirk. “You wanted to walk?” Subconsciously, she eased her weight off her bad leg. “That’s new, why?” 

“Bill says there’s a cute little ice cream stand set up in the park,” his face was turning a little bit red, bashful. “I thought it could be a cute date.”

Emma snorted, giving an amused roll of her eyes and tucking her cleaning rag into her apron pocket. “If you wanna go so bad. I mean, I don’t suppose I have the chase to drive if you don’t have the car on you anyways.” She turned around to head back and clean the machines up, waving one hand up over her shoulder. “Customers today man, jeez!” She whipped her rag as she pulled it back from her apron. “I’ve been going back and forth and back and forth all day! First they want their coffee served to their table and then they want me to fetch the sugar and then they want me to get a napkin! Like, they have two legs don’t they?” 

Paul snickered and nodded. ”Wow, bastards, huh?” He didn’t want to point out how noticeable the bandages on her leg were despite how it might help her further her point. “They should just do it themselves!” He liked to hype her up when she was complaining. 

“Yeah, I know right!” She finished cleaning up the machines and folded up her apron. “It’s a bit of a pain I mean, I try not to do too much walking on it.”

“Guess I should cross walking home together off the list of romantic ideas?” Paul winced as she walked back over to him. 

“Yep,” she chuckled, giving him a quick hug now that she was off the clock. 

Before she could expect it, Paul’s hands slipped down to her thighs and he picked her right up off the ground. 

“Wow!” she laughed, straddling his hips. She was happy she didn’t have to put any strain on her feet to lean up for her regular ‘hello’ kiss. She was even happier to take her feet off the floor for the first time that day.

“Sorry I picked a bad day,” he gave a sheepish apology. “I can carry you if you want.” 

“God, you don’t have to carry me,” she batted his shoulder so he would drop her down. “That would be so weird.”

“It wouldn’t!” He insisted. “You’ve got your bandages on! People would know you were having a bad leg day. Plus, you could probably pass for a child.”

“Hah! Not helping, Paul!” Emma didn’t really need to wear her bandages at all this long after the accident, but Nora didn’t like her showing off her scar around customers, and Paul knew it made her self conscious. She only ever took the bandages off at home when she couldn’t be bothered to change them. 

Paul always told her there was no need to be insecure, but no matter how many times he told her how beautiful the scar was he knew she was self conscious and wasn’t going to push it if she wasn’t ready. 

“Well come on then,” he held out a hand and she took it, locking up the shop and turning the sign. 

The walk didn’t start off awfully. The weather really was nice, sunny with a light breeze, the smell of flowers in the air. She could keep her weight off her leg when Paul had a hand around her shoulder. 

“I knew you were strong, Paul,” Emma began, looking up at the dumb little smile spreading on his face. “Like, I knew you could lift me up but wow! You just swept me off my feet!” 

Paul couldn’t hold back his grin now, Emma could feel his hand clenching gleefully around her shoulder. 

“Especially not like that! And you were pretty eager to carry me home too, nerd.” 

He let out the most excited, high pitched giggle when Emma started to catch on.

“Have you been working out just so you can carry me?” She elbowed him, it was a joke mostly, but she figured from his attitude there was some truth to it. “Oh my god, you’re a loser, Paul!” 

“Well maybe just a little bit!” His voice was still high and squeaky. “I wouldn’t drop you! I’m strong enough! Here, get on my back!” He stopped turning around so she could get onto his back. 

“No! Paul, I’m a grown ass woman, I’m not getting on your back,” she joked, but the second he had taken his arm off her shoulder and let the weight go back to her bad leg it was like a trigger, and the pain began. She elbowed him. “I’m not.” 

He looked a little embarrassed to be turned down, and let out a half-stifled whine. “That’s okay. But let me know if your leg is hurting.” He shoved his hands down into his pockets like they were weights. 

Emma nudged him. “Don’t be sad about it. I’ll let you carry me when we’re home if you want to that badly. But we’re in public and I’m not letting you pick me up!” She resisted, trying to soldier through her limp so he wouldn’t notice and insist. 

“Okay, okay, okay,” he took her hand in his. “Let’s just go get some of that ice cream.” He started to walk a little faster, in a rush to get home and hide come the fact none of his romantic plans had worked out for him. 

Emma still found a smile tugging at her lips. Apparently her sheer existence was enough to motivate him into working out, very cute. “It’s nice that you offered though,” she assured him, trying to move his hand back around her shoulder so it it would take the pressure of her leg again, but she didn’t want to let him into the pain, or else he’d play hero and wouldn’t give her a choice. 

“Look, this is the place Bill was talking about,” he took his hand away from her to point at the little pop up shop in the park. 

Emma bit back a groan. She forgot about the ice cream, she just wanted to go home at this rate. “Sweet.”

They walked over the dry grass, listening to the cicadas chirping off rhythm and the rumble-purr of a plane overhead coming down to land in the Clivesdale airport. It made the perfect summer atmosphere, and it would have been such a beautiful day if her dumb leg wasn’t ruining it. 

“Did you want anything? I’ll pay for you.” 

“Oh no, it’s okay Paul. Did you?” 

His smile twisted a little bit. “You didn’t want anything?” 

She shook her head. “I sorta wanted to eat dinner before dessert, y’know, hah.” She would have offered to walk back down after dinner, but she wasn’t sure how her leg would feel. Right now it was on and off, whenever she put her foot down a little twitch of pain would burst out from the skin under the scar, but it wasn’t as bad as usual, just a nuisance. 

“Oh uh, I didn’t really want ice cream either,” he confessed, tapping his fists together. “I just thought maybe you would.” He tucked his wallet back into his pocket.

“Well why don’t we come back down after dinner, hey?” She had to offer it now. He looked so crestfallen that it left a pang of guilt biting at her heart. 

He gave a shy smile, shrugging. “We don’t have to come back, I don’t want your leg hurting.” 

Emma shook her head. “Hey, don’t worry about me! My leg doesn’t even hurt that much.” She felt like an asshole for ruining his night. She knew she was loved, this man basically worshipped her, and he was going to beat himself up if this all went south. “You know,” she offered up, swallowing her pride. “Why don’t you carry me through the park then? Just to the other side?” It was a play ground, no one would give her too many weird looks, and on the bright side his smile returned immediately. 

“Oh! I will!” He got down on one knee so he was short enough for Emma to get onto his back. 

With a roll of her eyes that he couldn’t see, she got onto his back and he put his legs under her thighs, careful not to touch the scarring. He heaved himself back up, his muscles flexing. 

“Wow,” She has to snort. He was really going to carry her. 

It was a little uncomfortable, but if she rested her head on his it wasn’t too bad. He began to talk but she tuned it out to listen to the timber of his voice through the vibrations of his body. She hung her hands down around his neck so she could feel his throat moving as he spoke. It was like a lullaby, and sleepy from the sunset warmth, she let herself lull into the idea that this really was a beautiful summer day and her leg didn’t make her a burden at all. 

But then in less than a minute they had crossed through the park. Paul was huffing a little, and Emma decided even if she could admit to being comfy, this just wouldn’t work out the whole way. She patted him on the shoulder to remind him to let her down now that they had crossed the park. 

“Was it okay?” He was trying not to pant too hard. 

“Yeah, it was good, Paul,” she tried not to be too positive about it, she didn’t want to encourage any more piggy back rides. She wasn’t a baby. “Thanks, nice to get off my feet for a bit.” 

Paul beamed, his smile reaching ear to ear as he continued rambling about whatever it was he had started rambling about during their walk in the park, but her leg was still getting bad, and his picked up pace was starting to be a hassle. 

She patted the side of her bandages to make sure she hadn’t wrapped them too tightly. “Ugh.” 

“Huh?” Paul paled for a second. “Do you not want to?”

“Huh? What? What were you saying?” 

“I was just talking about um, getting ice cream after dinner, we don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” he dipped his head, fiddling with his fingers. 

“Oh no, I want to go Paul, it’s alright. It’s not you, my leg just started to hurt.” She made sure to quickly cut Paul off before he could offer to pick her up again. “But we’re nearly back home so!” She just grabbed onto her wrist to pull him along. “And babe, you’re panting. Take a break yourself, you don’t have to carry me.” 

Paul let out a panicked gasp, hurrying along to keep up with Emma. “No, I swear I worked out enough to be strong enough to carry you! I can if you need it!”

Emma reached into her pants pocket for their front door keys. “No it’s okay! Here we are babe!” Once the door was opened she went to go sink down on the couch with a relieved sigh. 

Paul made his way to the kitchen to get them both some cold water before starting on dinner. He occasionally threw over questions about the state of her leg as he stirred the pasta in the pot on the stove. 

“I’m fine, Paul. Swear.” 

“Do you still want to get ice cream?” He questioned. 

“Yep!” 

“Well, I only want to get it for you, so if you don’t think you can go for another walk then we really don’t have to,” he promised. “You don’t have to do it for me if you’re hurting.” 

“Paul, babe, I swear,” she gave him a rough chuckle to warn him to cut it off. She didn’t want to be mollycoddled. She didn’t want him wasting his worry on something she could handle. “You’re going to burn our dinner, don’t worry about my dumb leg.” 

“It’s not dumb, Emma,” he tried to sound stern, but his worry shined through. “I’m not making you go down to get ice cream if your leg hurts. We can just go another day, we won’t miss out, the stand is gonna be there all month!”

“Paul, I think it’s really sweet that you want to take me there. It was a super nice day outside, we can go! I’ll be fine!” She insisted, sitting up as the pot was pulled off the stove. 

“Alright, if you promise,” he nodded, serving up their food into their bowls. “You can back out though. How’s your leg?” 

“You asked me like ten seconds ago, don’t freak out. It isn’t nerve pain today it’s just a twitch,” but at the same time, she wasn’t too keen to stand up to fetch her food. 

Paul must’ve sensed it because he brought their bowls over to the couch, sitting down on the other side of the couch so he could get Emma to put her bad leg up on his knees. 

She declined the offer so Paul wouldn’t ask how her leg was again. They had had that roundabout chat three times since they had gotten home, and she was too tired for the fourth.  
She slumped down the couch, kicking her legs up on the table and resting her bowl on her stomach.   
She ate at it a little miserably and slowly, procrastinating their walk to the park so she could give her leg time to get better.

But Paul was finished, and he was supervising Emma’s eating, and the look on his face implied he had connected the dots. “We don’t really have to go Emma. I don’t want you to force yourself for me.” 

She put her bowl aside and forced herself up, knocking aside the feelings in her mind and the pain in her leg. “Paul. Don’t make me repeat myself. Let’s go get some ice cream, okay?” She gave him a thumbs up. Better to get it over with just to see that smile of his. She took his hand. “C’mon. Ice cream. I’ll pay, even.” 

“Emma, it’s supposed to be my treat to you,” he tried to explain as they walked back outside to enjoy the last of the sunset. It had dipped down below the skyline leaving black silhouettes on the concrete underneath the purple and violet sky. 

The cicadas were still chirping, the cool air smelt like barbecue smoke and greasy food from the take away pizza place down the street. Paul was breathing it all in with a relaxed smile, so no way could she admit that just walking down the front steps had done her in. 

“Summer is my favourite season, what’s yours?” He asked, trying to make some cheery conversation to make this trip worth it. 

She knew he was feeling unsure about bringing her out. She hadn’t done a convincing job telling him she was okay. “Uh,” she needed a second to settle her head. “Spring, Yeah. It reminds me of Guatemala, all the wild flowers used to bloom up the mountains and the air was really fresh. Yeah.” 

“You sound pretty distracted,” he bit down on his thumb. “Emma, stop.” He stepped in front of her, making her stop. “You look like you’ve having a rough time. How’s your leg? Honest answer.” 

“Paul, ice cream,” she pushed by him, walking on ahead. “It only hurts a little bit, and plus, I want ice cream.” 

He stayed still, watching her stomp on down the road. She could feel his eyes burning into his back so she made an effort to straighten out her gait, but when she shifted her walk she had to put the pressure back on her leg and it made her whine ever so slightly. 

“Oh my god,” she heard him groan. “I knew it.” 

She turned around, flinching at the angry expression on his face. “Paul, I’m fine.”

“I don’t care if you’re fine, I don’t care if you want ice cream. Your leg doesn’t get better because you’re always walking on it when it hurts!” 

“You guys all fuss over me! Nerve pain is the real shit, this is literally the equivalent of like, stubbing your toe,” she waved a dismissing hand. 

“What would Hidgens do if he heard you were walking on your leg when it was bad?” Paul’s glare was almost paternal. “If you want ice cream that badly I’ll get it for you but you’ve been walking about all day and I’m worried you’ll irritate it.”

“Hidgens would let it slip. Come on Paul, let’s just spend the last of the day together, please?” 

He didn’t answer immediately, and Emma took that as a reluctant yes, but when she turned around she felt a hand on her stomach and the air left her lungs after she could get out a yelp as she was swooped off her ground. “Paul!” 

He had hoisted her off the ground under one arm, tossing her up on his broad shoulders. “Sorry Emma. This is for your own good.”

She dug her nails into his shirt because there was a little bit of imbalance in the way he was resting her on his shoulder. “This is unsafe, Paul! Put me down!” 

“I’m not putting you down until your in your bed, and then you aren’t getting up until your leg is better.” His grasp was tight around her hip bones so he would drop her. 

“You’re just trying to show off that you can carry me,” she huffed, getting a minor headache from the bounce of his step. She could feel from the way he walked that he was a little bit happy about the opportunity he had taken. 

“Well I think you were just pushing yourself for my sake. But I don’t really care about going for a walk or going to an ice creamery. I just wanted to be with you.” He shoved the keys back in through the front door, kicking it shut with his leg as to not risk dropping Emma for a second.   
He carried her to bed, dropping her down.   
“Stay there,” he ordered, opening up the bedroom window to let the summer air in.

“I need to get changed, man. Don’t get so bossy.”

He opened up her draw of the drawer and tossed her pyjamas onto the bed. “Well you can get changed there.”

Emma grumbled, grimacing at him as she undid her bow. He grimaced right back.   
“Don’t act like you’re a hero here.” 

“Don’t act like I’m in the wrong for making you obey your physical therapists orders,” he shot back, giving her a moment of privacy to change as he went to go wash up the dinner plates. 

She sunk down onto the sheets. Well, at least she got to lay down in the end. She was sad that she had upset Paul, she wished she could’ve just pulled through. Her leg always ruined things, and now it had ruined Paul’s date idea. But was he upset about that or upset about the way she had treated herself? 

Her head and her body were worn out from the day, and she felt her heavy eyes shutting, she laid a hand over her eyes to keep out the lights, slowly slipping into an unrestful sleep, not sure whether Paul was mad at her or not, or when he was coming to bed. The perfect summer day had gone south so soon, and it could’ve been all her fault. 

When she woke up, it was to a gentle tugging at her ankle.   
It took her a moment to adjust, the overhead lights were off but Paul’s bedside lamp was on. 

He was sitting cross legged besides her in his pyjamas, one hand holding her ankle up to raise her leg slightly up off the sheets.

She was about to ask him what he was doing, too drowsy to pull her leg back. But she saw a careful concentration on his face, he wasn’f intending to wake her.

She closed one eye, trying to gather clues through her other, squinted. If he found he had woken her up it would only make him beat himself up again. She didn’t want that. 

She noticed the pressure around her scar lifting too, and realised he was unravelling the bandages she had on. 

She let out a mumbled whine, about to tell him not to bother caring about it. She just wanted to keep her scar away, but he looked over when he heard her making noise and she shut her eyes out of instinct. 

He let out a concerned mumble of his own, but then she felt fresh bandages against her skin. Fresh bandages were always smoother if a little scratchy. He was coiling them around her thigh, covering up the scar just how she liked it. 

She felt her frown turning into a smile. He was changing her bandages for her because she never liked looking at her scar herself. And his touch was so soft and gentle. He was struggling a little bit with holding her leg up and bringing the bandages around though, but he was pushing through just as gently to get it done before she ‘woke up.’

Emma’s laugh was nothing more than a stagger in her breathing and a widened smile. To help him out like he had been helping her all day she pretended to shift in her sleep, drawing her knee up so her leg sat up on its own and he didn’t have to lift it for her. 

He got the wrappings done much faster, pinning them in place. When he stood up Emma cracked open one eye again, watching him take the old bandages away to the bathroom bin and sneak back under the sheets. 

“Hey,” she pretended to wake up as he nestled in next to her, just so they could fall asleep together. 

“Hi,” he smiled back, there was his happy little grin again. He was convinced he had done it all without waking her once, he looked very proud. “How’s your leg doing?” 

“It’s doing much better,” she gave a gentle laugh. “But I’ll listen to you, okay? I’m staying off it for now.” 

He let out a quiet yet relieved sigh. “I’m really glad.” He pulled the sheets up around both of them. “Go back to sleep, okay? 

It was the little things. Maybe this really had nothing to do with Paul wanting ice cream or an evening walk, maybe it really was about wanting to spend time together. Maybe her leg wasn’t a burden. And maybe, just maybe, this was the perfect summer’s day after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the staggered content right now !! I’ve been trying to write these past few days but half of aus is on fire so that’s a little distracting & disconcerting to say the least oofh


End file.
